


Impulsive

by FoxyEgg



Series: Arthur Hastings: The Human Disaster :) [1]
Category: We Happy Few (Video Game)
Genre: :), Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Author venting, Bad Jokes, Blood and Injury, Brain Surgery, Depression, Drowning, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Escape, Eventual Happy Ending, Gen, Happy, Happy Ending, How Enlightening, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Injury, Injury Recovery, Jokes, Laboratories, Lobotomy, Medicine, Near Death, No Sex, No Smut, Original Character(s), Poor Arthur, Running Away, Sad with a Happy Ending, Sarcastic Arthur, Self Confidence Issues, Self-Doubt, Self-Harm, Self-Hatred, Social Anxiety, Surgeons, Surgery, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Weird Plot Shit, enjoy this, hurt Arthur, oof
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-01-04 15:57:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 9,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18346904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FoxyEgg/pseuds/FoxyEgg
Summary: Arthur felt hazy, like his mind was somewhere else. His arms felt weightless, he felt like he was underwater... Wait, was he underwater?





	1. Ready, Set, Go

**Author's Note:**

> Based on The Fallen by MoWolf, support the remake and the original!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Story is greatly inspired by The Fallen by MoWolf, really amazing story go and support the rewrite and the old version! (Going by the chance that you may see this, you can ask me to take this down if you want me to, I don't want you to feel like I'm copying your hard work.)

  Arthur gritted his teeth as the bobby drove his shoe into his side. Arthur got back up and blocked a hit from a baton before turning and blocking another one. He was completely cornered, 'how did they find out?' he asked himself. Pretending is one of Arthur's strong suits, though some observant doctors could see through his disguise. Arthur felt a kick get planted from behind him into the back of his knees, making him fall down and get beaten. He hissed and tried to punch, the feeling of one grabbing his arm made him momentarily pause. Arthur screeched as his upper arm (I had to seriously google what the upper arm was called by looking up, "what is the upper arm called?" It's called the upper arm, who'da thunk it-) was pulled away from him.

 

He shouted, “get off of me!”

 

Quickly, he wrenched his arm free and flipped his right leg above him, propelling him to flip over and skid into a sprint. He ran for a few minutes before he smacked into a black fence, his eyes widened as he look over the edge. Blue water in large waves, maybe about 45 or 46 meters (I had to look that up because I live in the US and the US is stupid as hell and we don’t use the far easier system, the metric system, same with how the spell colors, we’re fucking stupid. 150 ft= 45.72 m, I rounded that to 46 m.) not a fatal drop into water. (A fatal drop into water is about 250 ft or 76 m. Look at that you’re maybe learning a few things from fanfiction :) ) Arthur turned back around to glance at the bobbies, they’re like, 10 centimeters away from him.

 

“Here goes nothing.” Arthur rolled his eyes and jumped, not diving in fear of hurting his head.

 

He felt hazy, like his mind was somewhere else. His arms felt weightless, he felt like he was underwater... Wait, was he underwater? Arthur tried to swim up to the surface, but yelped in surprise, letting out some precious air. Shit. _Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!_ A large rock had rolled down on top of his foot, trapping him under the blue water. Every wave made his body fly back and his glasses slipped off, now he couldn’t breathe or see anything for shit. He felt himself involuntarily breath in, sucking salty water into his lungs, his nostrils and lungs burned. His ankle felt sprained or broken, but he couldn’t tell, he was too focused on his lack of air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Give me some slack guys it's like 2:20 AM right now and my eyes are burning as one's eyes do- Time to sleep and think of better ideas for this to continue not shitily (???).


	2. Mind Reading Doctor?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Struggling is key to Arthur, even if it's not working, he'll just try, try, again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys who have commented have been lovely, have a longer chapter for your good behaviour. Enjoy fellas. 👌

 

He opened his eyes and quickly closed them, everything was so blotchy and bright that it strained his eyes. Arthur squinted and lifted one side of his mouth, where are his glasses?

 

“Hello, Mr. Hastings,” someone said as he could hear about four sets of footsteps and see three heads. Either someone was a midget, or they’re staying in his blind spots, which right now, is everywhere.

 

“Is he blind?” One asked, turning their head to look at the person in the middle.

 

“No, he’s missing his glasses.” The person, who from the lack of boobs he identified as a male, pointed up to the ceiling. “Stand him up would you?” He was suddenly grabbed from behind. 

 

Yeah, that fourth mystery person was staying behind him. He yelped as they sat him up, he yanked his shoulders from their grasp and tried to move his ankle to stand, he gasped from the pain. _He did not expect that_.

 

“Hold him.” Arthur growled lowly (I find animalistic and childish characters to be very fun) and tried to fight them off. Emphasis on  _ tried _ . 

 

The one behind him (who from the gold glint on three of the people, figured out were most likely some rendition of a bobby. He kicked and shook someone off who what trying to hold down his feet, Arthur screamed as they grabbed his ankle in a death grip

 

“Don’t touch his right.” The other non-bobby chimed in over his screaming and struggling.

 

Arthur reached up and scratched the fourth bobby’s face and down his forearms to make him let go and hiss. He sat up and punched the ankle grabbing bobby in the cheek bone, his own hand stung but survival come first. The other bobby stepped in and grabbed Arthur’s sides, pulling him back until he was nearly falling off of the bed. The said bobby lifted him and linked his arms over Arthur’s shoulders and behind his neck, forcing Arthur’s head down, very uncomfortable. Arthur thrashed, screamed, yelled swears, bit, and kicked but nothing seemed to work.

 

“Shit, man,” one bobby said while catching his breath.

 

“Get the medicine,” the doctor (from the white long coat) said. “Extra glasses and maybe some restraints too.” Ankle grabber nodded and strode out, probably embarrassed that he got his ass kicked by a scrawny guy.

 

Arthur picked up his thrashing again as he completely lifted his feet off of the ground and rolled his head around, bending his body in weird angles to try to get freed.

 

“Thank you, Constable Watts.” Ah, so ankle grabber’s last name is Watts. Wonderful to know. 

 

Arthur grumbled when he was laid down on the bed with his arms being held above his head. They put him in a strangely comfortable straight-jacket. It was quite lovely if he was being honest; the leather straps holding his hands to his chest were on the looser side of things, all of the leather had protective strips wrapped around the edges to keep away from rubbing his skin off. Though he growled and tried to pull it off, the only things that annoyed him about it was that if something arises he couldn’t move, and also that his suit didn’t feel nice below it, his tie was pulled tight from the struggle and was suffocating him. He pulled his hands foreword and he pulled his back away, trying to break the seams, he coughed as the tie was pulled tighter. Trying to claw at his neck looked more like struggling than anything, so the doctor and bobbies all ignored it. The doctor walked over to a counter and pulled out a pill bottle.

  
“Give this t’him twice a day, morning at night.” The doctor said as he walked over to Arthur, slipping on new glasses. It seemed like it wasn’t the right prescription, everything was still more blurry than clear. “We’ll be able to get you new glasses with the right prescription soon, tomorrow or somethin’ like that.” Arthur looked up at him quizzically, ‘ _ can this asshole read my mind _ ??’


	3. Food is Evil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur eats like a pig.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously, you guys are amazing! Thank you so much for all of the nice comments, really keeping me going. I smile so big and I get so happy that I don't feel depressed for once. This looks short mainly because there isn't much talking which means less paragraphs which means it looks shorter.

Arthur wanted to hurt somebody but no one besides for himself was around, he huffed in annoyance and frustration. He has sharp nails, he could always- the door opened and he jumped.

“Food.” The doctor walked in and set pancakes down in front of him. (Sorry for people like me who haven't eaten yet!) He carefully took off Arthur’s straight jacket and set it in a nearby chair.

They smelled delicious, warm, chocolate chips- wait, chocolate? Arthur’s eyes lit up as he was about to take a bite, but he put it back down. What if they put medication in this? Or worse, Joy? They even had Joy in their bloody water why wouldn’t they have it in their food too! Arthur pushed it away, his stomach rumbled, urging him to eat something that’s not rotten.

“You need to eat,” the doctor said, pushing the food under Arthur's nose. 

Maybe one bite would be fine. Arthur lifted up the top one, steam poured out which did not help Arthur. He clenched his jaw and peeled open one pancake, chocolate filled his senses, he remembered Percy, it was the last time he had eaten the treat. Arthur sniffed the food and took a nibble. He fought the urge to smash everything around him to have more. It felt like heaven compared to a rotten potato. Arthur gave into his primal instinct and started to scarf down the pancakes.

“For fucks sake eat it slower!” The doctor chuckled and reached for Arthur’s wrist to slow him down, but he received a hiss. “Fine then, don’t die.” 

Arthur lied down and his wide eyes turned calm, nearly half lidded; though thoughts, many thoughts, were running through his mind. Why was he here? He remembers being underwater but what happened after losing his glasses? Who are these people? Do they know about my Joy boycott? Why, why, why, why, why. He noticed he finished a while ago and was just sitting there, staring at the wall, Arthur shook his head and moved onto the next one, first making sure it was like the other. He maybe didn’t check it as thorough, but it didn’t have Joy in it so it was fine. Arthur tried to scarf the second one down again but got a piece lodged in his throat.

“And this is why I told you to eat slow!” The doctor got up and helped Arthur. He was really harsh with his slaps, felt like millions of tiny needles were on his hand, stabbing Arthur’s back. Arthur got it back up and then down again, eating the second pancake slowly this time.


	4. Look at What You Did

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bad shit happens, man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously, there is not enough works that take place after Arthur gets out and finds Percy. It kills me inside. 
> 
> Also, longer chapter, I went a bit crazy. Side effect of moving on from writing on a word counting website (it's very nice: https://wordcounter.net/https://wordcounter.net/) to writing my entire story on Google Docs is that I'll overshoot my chapters word count. Usually my story parts are 400 (ruffly one minute 30 or so) or 420 words (used to be 200), this one was 645 words.

The doctor walked out with a waning, “I’ll leave the jacket off if you’re good.” Arthur nodded and looked to the plate. Plates are sharp when smashed, maybe he could just. Arthur pushed the plate off of the bed and it smashed into pieces on the cold floor, he quickly reached down and grabbed a piece, slipping it under his pillow. The door slammed open and the bobies ran in with the doctor behind them.

 

“Shit, why did you do that?” Constable whatever-his-name-was hissed and crouched down, begging to carefully pick the mess up.

 

“Hey,” Constable Watts sat on the edge of the bed and smiled kindly. ‘ _ It’s just a cover, Arthur! Don’t fall for it, _ ’ he thought to himself. “What happened?”

 

“I forgot it was there and kicked it off,” Arthur lied, glancing over to the mostly cleaned mess.

 

“Are you sure? I just left,” the doctor narrowed his eyes. ‘ _ CAN HE READ MY MIND?! _ ’ 

 

“I spaced out.” Arthur pushed himself into the headrest of the bed and sighed. ‘ _ They didn’t seem to react, either they know about me being off Joy, or they’re dumb. I’m gonna go with #2 on this one to make myself feel better. _ ’

 

“You don’t seem like the type to, whatever. You nearly have that cleaned, Constable Rabossen?” Rabossen? Would hate to have that surname. (I think Cabbage or Bacon would be terrible, Cabbage is a common-ish last name in Britain and Bacon is a constable’s name in WHF) 

 

“Yeah, just checking to see if there’s any left, wouldn’t want him to stab us.” Rabosson glanced up at Arthur’s scowling face and chuckled, going back to looking. 

 

Arthur did not like him. He felt his ankle get touched, he opened his eyes and found the doctor checking on it.

 

“Sorry, my hands are kinda cold,” the doctor laughed and Arthur  _ nearly  _ smiled. 

 

Arthur’s close smile snapped down and was replaced with a grimace as the doctor touched a particularly sore spot. Arthur hissed and flinched but did nothing more. He closed his eyes and tried to rest, he felt on the verge of sleep as his shirt was shifted. He ignored it, probably just getting off the the bed and pulled his shirt down. But then he felt the top button being undone, he snapped open his eyes as they got down to the middle. The doctor was taking off his shirt. That’s the one this Arthur absolutely hates, his body. One thing that has only been seen by himself, his mom, dad, brother, and one bitchy, verbally abusive, girlfriend. He pushed the doctor away from him and winced empathetically (I smacked my head and kicked my bed until I could remember the word empathetic) as he fell onto the floor. Arthur backed up and fell off of the bed, his calm, slightly happy, expression turned into that of a terrified face.

 

“Doctor Fran!” Welp, that’s his name then.  Watts ran over to Fran as Graham ran over to Arthur. Arthur was put into a hug sort of? Fran was helped up as Arthur cowered.

 

“Let go of him, it was my fault, I should have told him what I was doing,” Fran said as he brushed invisible dust off of his coat.

 

“We’re sorry, you know how it gets, downers can be violent.” Watts smiled at Arthur and helped him up. ‘ _ Guess they do know. _ ’

 

“I need to check your torso for any cuts or other busing we didn’t see.” Arthur laid back down and closed his eyes, sleepily nodding at the doctor. 

 

Fran poked around for a while, Arthur sometimes held Fran’s wrist when he needed a brake. They ended up finding about 15 bruises (some long from the batons bobbies carry, four in the shapes of shoes on his sides, and a lot from punching) and eight cuts. Arthur relaxed a little and plunged into darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More info about the characters:
> 
> Dr. Fran- Calm when with patients, black hair, pale green eyes, long, white, coat, doctor, rude in a playful way to Graham
> 
> Constable Graham- Called ‘Graham Cracker’ sometimes, sandy blond, hazel eyes, inhumanly strong, rude in a playful way to Fran
> 
> Constable Watts- Patient, brow hair, blue eyes, good boy, can (surprisingly) cook, swears a lot, has acrophobia (fear of heights), generally playful
> 
> Constable Rabossan- Rude to everyone, caramel hair, brown eyes, quiet, very short temper, can’t hand sarcastic comments about self, violent, either hates you to your guts or loves you to shit-arines
> 
> (I keep this at the top of my doc to help myself; yes, even me, the author, forgets their own characters.)


	5. Rabossan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "What happened?"
> 
> "Constable Robossan happened," Arthur said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna stop trying to make each part 400 words, this one's 600 words again.

 

Arthur awoke to being pushed off his bed, he yelped but it was muffled by a cloth. 

 

‘ _ What in the world is happening? _ ’ He hissed as a boot was press on one of his cuts. 

 

Arthur could barely see in the mixture of darkness and no glasses. He tried to get back up but was punched; Arthur cowered in fear. He saw a quick glint of gold on the person's chest. 

 

‘ _ A bobby? Why would a bobby be beating me? _ ’ Arthur was pulled up and thrown onto his bed (don’t worry! There is (surprisingly) no rape, it’s  _ extremely  _ tempting, but I can’t do that to Arthur), it groaned under him. 

 

Then, realization hit him and his survival instinct smacked his ass, ‘ _ I need to get away. _ ’ He furrowed his brows and kicked whoever it was in the chest, Arthur heard a grunt as he flipped over and crawled away. 

 

He can’t let himself be cornered again. The person walked over to him and grabbed his throat, blocking his airways. His eyes went wide as he was pulled close to the person’s face. Rabossan? 

 

“Don’t you fucking dare try to hurt my friends  **ever** again, or else the next ones gonna be far worse,” Rabossan hissed as he dropped, more like  _ threw _ , Arthur. 

 

Arthur waited to do anything before Rabossan left. He could her the door shut quietly, maybe not to wake anyone else up. Did anyone even live here? For all Arthur knew, he could be in a testing facility for downers. He let out a shaky breath and crawled under the bed, looking around trying to find others.

 

‘ _ I guess if I could fit under that desk I could go there. I could also go to that closet. _ ’ He nodded can waited for a bit, listening for footsteps. Arthur felt sand get kicked into his eyes and his head got very heavy, he shut his eyes and slept with only moderate nightmares.

 

“Arthur?” He snapped his eyes open and scanned his eyes around. He’s under the bed still, there’s three bobbies and a doctor, Dr. Fran, Constable Graham, Constable Watts, and Constable Rabossan.

 

’ _ Rabossan isn’t looking anywhere like the others, he’s just standing there, angrily and impatiently tapping his foot. He’s gonna hurt me again, right? _ ’ Arthur sharp intake of air drew Graham’s attention to the bed.

 

“Arthur,” he said, chuckling. Why isn’t he angry? Why is he not hurting Arthur? 

 

‘ _ He’s gonna hurt me. _ ’

 

“Now what are you doing under there you silly goose?” He reached under for Arthur as the other’s (as in Watts and Fran) crouched down and peered under. 

 

Arthur scooched until his back hit the wall, Graham continued to reach for him. Without thinking of the consequences, Arthur swiped at Graham with his hand, scratching him. Graham swore as he pulled back, bumping his head on the bed. 

 

Arthur covered his mouth and started shaking in fear, ‘ _ no, no, no, no, no! Arthur you fucking idiot! _ ’ Arthur curled into a ball, just wanting to die with relatively no pain.

 

“Hey, no, it’s alright, you just got scared.” Graham tried to calm Arthur as he motioned with his hand for Arthur to come over. Arthur, looked from the floor to Graham and started to crawl slowly to him. “It’s fine, see?” Graham showed Arthur his hand, it only had a slightly puffy, red, streak running across it. Arthur nodded and came out, he looked like a puppy that did something wrong.

 

“We’re all friends here,” Fran said, kneeling. Arthur glance up at Rabossan who held a stern, angry expression at which Arthur snapped his eyes back down to the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can maybe tell, I'm running out of ideas for for this story, help in the comments would be greatly appreciated!


	6. Knees to Chest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur has a headache and a nagging feeling of self hatred and the want to hurt someone.

Arthur didn’t eat which was strange, usually he would pick at his food, but he didn’t even do that, he didn’t even look at it.

“You need to eat,” Fran sighed and shrugged at Graham and Watts, Rabossan was nowhere to be seen. Arthur vigorously shook his head and whimpered, shoving the food off the side of the bed, second plate broken in the span of three days. 

“Where’s Rabossan when you need ‘em?” Graham ran a hand down his face as Watts started cleaning, such a nice lad really. Arthur visibly shook at Rabossan’s name. “Do you not like him?” Arthur shot his gaze up to Graham and shook his head, smiling tightly and warrily looking around.

“N-no! Why wouldn’t I? He’s- he’s… Nice?” Arthur is very bad at lying when it’s something that he wants to tell someone.

“Arthur,” Graham warned, Arthur looked back down and said nothing. Fran sighed and scratched his neck.

“He beat me.” It was such a simple statement but it made time slow.

“He… Beat you?” Arthur blinked rapidly and nodded, avoiding eye contact.

“Why?” Watts furrowed his brows as he cupped the last remaining shards of plate in his hand, tossing it in the trash.

“Didn’t like that I pushed Fran off the bed,” Arthur answered, Fran poked up at his name.

“How do you know my name?”

“I’m not deaf, I keep track of your names so I can distinguish you better.” Arthur closed his eyes and groaned, clenching his jaw.

“Is that why you haven’t been eating? Have hidden? You haven't been talking to us as much either.” Watts said in thought, Arthur nodded.

“Yeah.”

“Shit, how didn’t we pick up on this? We’re supposed to be his caregivers!” Graham hissed, Arthur opened his eyes and looked at them.

“Why am I here? Where am I? How did I get here?”

“Whoh, slow down there.” Graham laughed, Arthur’s frown deepened as Graham’s laugh abruptly stopped and his eyes went wide. “Em- should we tell him?”

“You were found underwater, passed out and drowning, we retrieved you and took you here. We were called because of our certain traits and abilities. I’m a doctor and some say I have a more comforting aura compared to other doctors," Arthur nodded and snorted. "Graham is strong and playful, Watts is kind and patient, Rabossen has virtually no remorse,” Fran replied. “You’re in our backyard, in a small shed, still in Wellington Wells. If you want we could open the windows.” Arthur nodded and Watts walked outside, drawing back some white and red checkered curtains. 

“Why am I here?” Arthur peered up between his knees at Fran, Graham, and Watts.

“That’s confidential. I would tell you if I could but me and the others could get in serious trouble.” Arthur nodded and looked down, internally screaming at himself for giving in and telling them.

“Goodnight, Arthur.” They walked out as Arthur shivered. The tightening in his stomach returned, his knees warmed up and thumped, his fingers went cold and started to sweat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really dark fun fact: whenever a character in my stories self harm or feel like they're gonna do it, I tend to describe how I feel when I get the urge. If you didn't know, I vent really a lot, a lot, in my stories, if you knew me in real life (I don't let my friends nor my family read my fics, I don't like people knowing how I really feel) you would be able to maybe pick out what parts in my stories are based off of me. 
> 
> Super fun and helpful fun fact I know.


	7. Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting new people, Arthur's favorite thing in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The self harm in this part is mainly skipped, it's harder than I thought to try and keep Arthur's personality close to cannon but also work in self harm.
> 
> Also, this is 1,215 words long. 
> 
> Also also, I'm trying to update this as much as I can.
> 
> Enjoy!

(Here's the entire part but with no spacing, amazing right? Sorry for ultra blurriness.)

 

Arthur’s wrists thumped, his knees burned. He smiled sadly down at his arm and looked up, huffing out a laugh.

 

“Lucky I have a long sleeve shirt.” His sad smile fell and was replaced with a frown. “Somethings wrong with me.” He smiled again and laid back down, pulling up his sleeves and grunting as it rubbed uncomfortably on his cuts and bites.

 

.:_____________________:.

 

Arthur woke up and rubbed his face, his knees and wrists burned.

 

He furrowed his brows and grumbled, “goddamnit, why Arthur? Why? Now you’re gonna have to be extra, extra, careful.”

 

With care and effort, he sat up and tried to rub the kinks out of his neck.

 

‘What was I thinking?’ He closed his eyes and breathed in.

 

‘What would Graham, Watts, and Fran think of me? Would they send me away?’ Arthur snapped open his eyes, he whispered, “they wouldn’t leave me, they couldn’t leave me” over and over until he breathed in, then out until he was mostly calm.

 

‘They wouldn’t care anyways, I’m a test subject from the sound of it.’ He sighed and looked around.

 

The walls of the room were washed out, the once bright colors were chipped. The wardrobe on the opposite side of the room was shiney and dark, polished recently. The floors were concrete with the exception of an old, itchey, rug, it was one of those wound rope rugs, it was washed out as well, pale purple, pale red, and pale blue. There was a desk too, it had no chair, three drawers were on either side all protected with locks. The soft glow from the sun made the pale walls look perfect, the floating bits of dust made the room feel magical. He’s never tried to take the room in before, afraid of getting attached. Arthur laid his hands in his laps and breathed in, the air felt thick and tasted old, the wood smell reached his nose making him think of the Garden District, the air there was thin, natural, the flowers and the long grass felt lovely against his hard worked legs, he remembers it so distinctly.

 

He wanted to go back there.

 

Arthur laughed, “there’s no way to get out of here.” They seemed to know him, he felt put off by how much they maybe know.

 

They seemed to know he would and could use anything to get out, he could probably use a chair, maybe that’s why there isn’t one. Arthur groaned, how early did he wake up, usually they would be here by now.

 

.:_________________________:.

 

He waited the entire fucking day. At about 1 PM (turns out he woke up around 7:30) they walked in, but they had friends.

 

“This is where the downer is.” Arthur skidded under the desk before they could open the door. “Arthur pick another- oh.” Graham looked under the bed first, Arthur’s most common hiding spot.

 

“Could he have gotten out?” one of their friends asked, there was three more joy doctors and four more bobbies. ‘11 people,’ Arthur grimaced. ‘That's unpleasant.’

 

“There’s no way, unless…” Fran trailed off. “He’s in here!” He quickly threw open the closet door. Arthur giggled and covered his mouth.

 

“Arthur!” Watts called out, in a singing voice that’s supposed to represent a female. “Are you in here sweetie pie?”

 

“You suck at nicknames,” Graham chuckled.

 

“No one asked for your opinion, Graham Cracker.” Fran laughed and poked Graham’s nose, Graham was fuming.

 

“How about…” Watts stopped right in front of Arthur, his boot was nearly touching Arthur’s thigh. “Here!” Watts reached under the desk and grabbed Arthur's left ankle, pulling out a giggling Arthur.

 

“Graham Cracker!” Arthur wheezed, tears formed in his eyes and his sides ached.

 

“Hush you.” Graham walked over to Arthur and wrinkled his nose. Arthur was let go of and he almost immediately fell onto the floor, still wheezing and rolling around.

 

“Alright, medicine time,” Graham said as he handed Arthur a canteen of freshwater and a white pill.

 

“Ugh, is this my punishment for making fun of you?” Arthur smirked as he cracked open the canteen with a squeak and downed the pill, coughing and wiping his mouth afterwards.

 

“Mhm, and here’s you’re glasses, we had to retrieve your old ones to find the pascription,” Fran said as he helped slide on Arthur’s new glasses.

 

“That’s why I woke up without you barging in on me half naked.” Arthur chuckled at the memory. “It was peaceful and frankly beautiful in here today. Reminded me of the Garden District.” Arthur looked down and furrowed his brows.

 

“You went to the Garden District and lived?” one of the bobbies questined, Arthur snapped out of his state and jumped, flipping around and facing him, he slowly backed up and nervously chuckled.

 

“Did- Did I really say that? I mean, I didn’t go there, I just- um,” Arthur stamppered and his back hit the wall, making his hands slap onto it.

 

“Arthur-” Graham tried but stopped and sighed, looking back at the others.

 

“Those people were thrown out to starve, I nearly starved! They were thrown out for something they couldn’t control. Everything you think you know about Downers are wrong, just look at me! I blended in just fine and I’m a downer!” Arthur’s eyes were wide as he gritted his teeth his nails were scratching at his knees.

 

“Arthur,” Watts sighed and kneeled down and reached out.

 

“No! I’ve listened to others for too long! How about you Wellies open your fucking ears and listen to a Downer for once!” Arthur stood up quickly and staggered a bit, his knees and his wrists burned as he made wild gestures. “Because of you all others lives are hell! Because of you fuckers everything as gone to shit. Everyone forgot what they did to the children! They forget all of their past mistakes and now they’re doomed to repeat it! You all need to open your goddamn eyes and realize what a disgusting world your all in! You don’t have flowers surrounding you, they’re all rotten! The air is black from fumes! Fucking grow up and realize that you're all insane!” He ran to the bed and dug out the shard from under his pillow, blood was still dripping off of it.

 

“Arthur, how did you get that.” Fran backed everyone up.

 

“I took it when the plate was shattered, when I lied and said that I kicked it off on accident. I wanted the shard to hurt someone, anyone. You’re all the reason why I hate everything! Why I hate myself!” Sweat was pouring out of his forehead. He gripped the shard so tight that he bled.

 

“Put down the shard,” Graham slipped his hand to his baton, he’ll only use it when necessary. “I don’t want to hurt you, Arthur.”

 

“S-Stay back!” Arthur thrusted the shard forward. “Stay back, please. I’m scared. I want to be back, I don’t want to be here.” His legs were shaking and his nostrils flared. (HeH-) Watts started to help too.

 

“Alright, just please put it down, we don’t want anyone to get hurt.” He looked at the others then back at Arthur. “Including you.” Arthur blinked and shook his head. Looking down at the shard he dropped it, backing away.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sarcastic Arthur will return do not fear!
> 
> Also this is on Wattpad now because someone on Amino asked for it so oof.


	8. Who Cares?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur's freak out doesn't end well for either parties.

They talked loudly, Graham’s strong laugh traveled down to Arthur’s back. Arthur’s eyelids felt heavy as Fran was checking his cuts on his fingers. He didn’t pull away fast enough when his shirt sleeve was lifted.

 

“Arthur, what is-” Fran was cut off.

 

“I fell?” Arthur shunned himself for making it a question.

 

“I know you’re a great lier, but you need to tell us everything.”

 

“Remembering what I did to my brother is painful,” Arthur breathed out after a while of silence.

 

“What did you do?” Watts asked, tilting his head.

 

“I was too young to not be sent to Germany, you wouldn’t remember because of Joy, but the adults sent the children away. I was trying to sneak my older brother on, but I lied saying that I was him so I didn’t have to go on.” Arthur stretched and yawned.

 

“What triggered you to turn into a Downer?” one of the joy doctors asked, Arthur winced that the name.

 

“Downer is such a rude term, don’t you think?” Arthur sat up, taking his wrist away from Fran. “I saw a picture of my brother and me in the news paper.”

 

“Was that it?” he asked Arthur again.

 

“Are you going to continue being my therapist,” Arthur snapped, his lips curled into a snarl to which the doctor sighed at.

 

“No.”

 

“Am I free to go?” Arthur stood up, alerting the nearly asleep bobbies.

 

“I need to check your cuts, who knows if they’ll get infected,” Fran huffed.

 

“I don’t care. For that matter, who really does care if I die?” Arthur narrowed his eyes and got up, starting to round the couch.

 

“Arthur, no! You are going to stay here right now!” Fran made large gestures.

 

Arthur groaned. “Are you my mother? No, if you were you’d be dead.” He turned around to walk out but Watts rushed over and grabbed his shoulders, dragging him back in.

 

“We’re not your parents but we’re your caretakers so you’re under our rule right now, and when we say stay, we fucking mean stay.” You know shits about to go down when you’re able to make Watts raise his voice. 

 

Arthur puffed out his cheeks and plopped back down with a little ‘harumph’. His plans have been foiled again. Fran made a straight line with his mouth and pulled up Arthur’s sleeve, rose colored cuts garnished his arm, a few reopened when Arthur was freaking out. Some were duds though, white streaks with pink surrounding them, puffy too. (No one ever adds in the fact that some are duds and don’t break your skin, people just write that it’s easy to make yourself bleed. Writing tips from your lovely author: MAKE THINGS REALISTIC.)

 

“Jesus, Arthur,” Graham breathed out as Arthur looked away.

 

“I didn’t want anyone to know,” Arthur started, “I just wanted it to blow over.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need ideas, I'm really running out 'ere. Help would be appreciated.


	9. Hit and Run Bitch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur hurts himself more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ideas are coming to me again, lets hope I don't blank out again.

Arthur blocked the door with his dresser and desk. He had ran out and closed himself in, childish yes, but he didn’t want to see anyone. Arthur stood up from his bed and put his elbow to the center of the small window, he took it back and rammed into it, cracking it. He did it a few more times, getting glass in his arm, he didn’t feel it through all of the adrenaline. Arthur huffed as he vaulted through the window, cutting his legs and his feet (mind you, were bare). He turned and looked behind him, contemplating if he really wanted to go. He shook his head, of course he wanted to. He turned back around and ran, he needed to find a way back without running into anyone…

 

“A cliff? That's your best idea, Arthur? Fuck this shit,” he fussed, his eyes widening. He looked around to check for any other route. 

 

Arthur rolled his eyes and whined, “goddamnit.” 

 

He latched onto a rock and heaved himself up, good thing that he's built like a spider. Arthur got onto the rock, looking up. ‘ _ 3,455,891 steps to go. _ ’ He continued the process of what you humans call  _ climbing _ , only slipping a few times.

 

“Success!” He threw his arms in the air and woohooed. 

 

Just one more bolder and he would be free. He jumped up and clawed at the grass as his stomach was scratched up by the rocks. He hissed and flailed his legs, trying to grip the ground. He clenched his jaw fell down, smacking his face into a rock that was jutting out. Arthur grunted and slapped onto the rocks bellow, he clamped his hand over his nose and whimpered. It was slick, blood stained his hand.

 

“Shit,” he hissed, getting back to his feet, he jumped up onto the rock and made it. He put his hands on his knees and looked over the edge of the cliff.

 

“Holy hell.” He wiped his nose and swiped his hand on a nearby tree. “Where’s the hatch?”

 

He walked around for a while, often whispering nonsense to himself. He made it to the little safe house, climbing through the window, he climbed down the ladder, flopping onto the scratchy, wooden, bed. He pulled off his suit and opened his stash (it autocorrected to stomach, how lovely), pulling out his ripped up suit. Arthur looked down at his body; he was skinny but he also had some pudgy patches on his stomach and thighs. He still had his bruises and cuts decorating his sickly, pale, skin. Small scrapes on his knees, palms, and lower stomach were still aching. His nose was broken, he really smacked that rock hard thanks to gravity (Gravity: You’re welcome, bro. :) ). Arthur sighed and sat down on the bed, running a hand through his greasy hair.

 

Time to live off of rotten foods again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This week's gonna be very stressful and I'm not ready-
> 
> So basically I go to online school because I had a sexual assault and bullying problem (people were bullying me and a kid grabbed a hand full of my ass and ran with it), my parents luckily got me out. Buuuuuuut I live in Wisconsin and up here we have something called the State Test. Like it suggests it's were you take a lot of stressful fucking tests where your timed and your school get judged off of your test scores. It's hell. I need to go to a brick and mortar school to take it (making sure I'm not cheating), I have to go back to the school I left. I WENT INTO ONLINE SCHOOL TO NEVER HAVE TO STEP FOOT IN THAT SCHOOL AGAIN AND WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO?? STEP ALL OF MY FEETIES IN THAT GOD FORSAKEN HELLWHOLE. 
> 
> So yeah my week's going great how's your's?


	10. Trail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur accidentally left a trail leading straight to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHthisisbullshit-

  Arthur had been missing for two months exactly. Graham was sad, everyone was but Graham seamed to the the most. Everyone had a piece taken out of them. Arthur was paranoid, always checking his back for Wellies; his energy was being drained because of it. He had gotten food poisoning a number of times, sickup tea was his best friend. The tea made him throw up, getting rid of the food poisoning, but also emptying his stomach in the process. He had to keep his chunky stew he got from the cook fresh, same with all of the other non-rotting foods. Arthur was starting to regret his decision, leaving Fran, Graham, and Watts, for fucks sake even _Rabossan_.

 

“Will he come back?” Graham ran a hand down his face.

 

“I don’t know.” Fran sighed and locked his hands behind his neck, stretching.

 

“You said he said that he wanted to go back to the Garden District, right?” Rabossan decided to help about two weeks ago, despite him hating Arthur, he hated seeing his friends like this more.

 

“Yeah,” Fran answered, pinching the bridge of his nose.

 

“Let's look there.”

 

Watts replied, “we already did!”

 

“He could have seen you, we need ripped clothing and no masks. We need to blend in.” Rabossan grabbed some scissors and took an article of clothing out of his suitcase, starting to rip it. “Hurry.”

 

The others did the same, after that was done, they tucked it under their arms. Nodding to each other.

 

“Now we can check houses without seaming… strange.” Rabossan walked outside and faced the broken window that Arthur got out of, he picked a pice up and showed everyone else.  Blood coated the edge. “He left a trail.”

 

It was a silent walk, Rabossan had to focus on following Arthur’s blood and everyone else was stuck in their own heads. Was Arthur even alive? Why did he run? Does Arthur hate them? What if-

 

“Oi, look.” Rabossan pointed to a splotch of blood on the rock.

 

Watts breathed out, “Arthur, what in God’s name have you done now?”

 

First Graham jumped up, he crouched down and held out a hand, halling Rabossan, Watts, and Fran up.

 

“You need to cut down on the sweets, Fran,” he chuckled. More blood was on the rock, a swipe of a bloody handprint and that splotch, it looked so much bigger than it did before.

 

“Oh my,” Watts whispered as his eyes trailed up the rock wall. “How the fuck did he make it?”

 

“Maybe adrenalin,” Rabossan answered, hopping up and continuing to climb; the others followed.

 

Once they made it to the top, they looked around. People were a bit aways from them, so they stripped and slid of their ripped clothing. It made them (Watts, Fran, and Graham) uneasy to take off their masks, it felt weird. Not wrong, but _weird_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fuckin' fuck fuck. If you can't tell I'm stressed out to ALL HELL right now, fuckin' school. Fuckin' anxiety. Fuckin' stress. Fuckin' insomnia.


	11. Bat Shit C R A Z Y

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur gets to be the (wimpy) knight in shining armor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long freaking wait. Stress is still eating my ass out and is affecting my work. (Also I've started ANOTHER story so if you like Welcome to the Game please go check it out: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18525367/chapters/43906525 ) This amazing idea was by Unkle_Jack on Wattpad! They're AMAZING, like H E C K. They're making their own WHF works and one that was inspired by this so PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD READ THEIR SHIT!
> 
> Anywhoo, enjoy!

Arthur hissed as someone smacked him from behind, apparently people don’t like when you stare.

 

“I said I was sorry,” Arthur squeaked. She growled and tried to hit him again.

 

Someone screamed in the distance, “KILL THE WOLF! KILL THE WOOOOOOLF!” (I’ve heard that line way too much in my playthrough) Arthur whipped around and saw the female turn and run towards the sounds. Arthur looked backwards and shook his head.

 

‘ _ Curiosity killed the cat… _ ’ He started to creep onto the scene, fuck…

 

Fran, Graham, and Watts (also Rabossan but we don’t talk about him-) were being beaten, they were struggling against the Downers surrounding them. Arthur watched as Graham was stabbed with a bayonet, even the mother fucking Head Boys (correct me if I’m wrong, they were the Plough Boys of the Garden District if I’m remembering right) decided to join. I clenched my fists.

 

‘ _ What do I do? They helped me. They came all this way to save you Arthur! Of course you’re going to help them. _ ’ Arthur sighed and jumped out from the corner yelling, “hey! Look at me! I was the one that brought them here! I’m with them!” Everyone looked over at him and shrugged, running over to Arthur.

 

"Well shit," Arthur mumbled as he ran away into an ally. 

 

He jumped into a trash bin, sadly, the others saw him and pulled him out. They tossed him on the floor and beat him. They broke his left ring finger, sprained his ankle, gave him countless bruises, and plenty of cuts (one long, deep, cut on his right side hurt in particular). Arthur was panicking. 

 

‘ _ Why can’t I move? _ ’ He wanted to scream for Graham, for  _ anyone _ ! 

 

The group lost interest right when Graham, Fran, Watts, and Rabossan ran over.

 

“You’re so stupid, why’d you do that,” Fran hissed, crouching down and slipping Arthur’s shirt up and checking out the gash in his side.

 

Arthur wanted to answer, he wanted to swat Fran’s worried hand away from his side. But he couldn’t move. Everything felt numb, everything sounded distant, muffled even.

 

“You’re still so dumb,” Graham chuckled. Arthur couldn’t nodded and couldn’t stand up.

 

“What? Too grateful to speak?” Rabossen’s shitty voice cut through Arthur’s mind. He wanted to come back with a witty comeback, or he wanted to slap Rabossan’s fat face. Either would do fine. As much as he tried, he couldn’t make his muscles move.

  
‘ _ HELP, _ ’ he tried to scream, he tried to roll around. But nothing happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Happy Jesus day pt. 1 by the way!)


	12. HE'S ALIVE I SAY! ALIVE!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur laughs. So does Graham and Watts. This is just a wholesome chapter really. It's just cute fluff really.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots and I mean lots of talking in this part.

They ran back with Arthur hanging limp in Graham’s arms. He was just barely wheezing out strangled breaths.

“Arthur, Arthur please!” Graham’s words vibrated Arthur’s back. Or was it Watts? He didn’t know, his mind was a haze of thoughts. It was hard to fill his lungs with air, they were getting tired.

 

“Hurry.”

 

“Hook it up.”

 

“Plug it in.”

 

“Take this.”

 

“Not too much.”

 

“Careful.”

 

“Not moving.”

 

“Is he okay?”

 

“Arthur.”

 

“What the hell happened?”

 

“He got out faster than expected.”

 

“Shit.”

 

“What?”

 

“I can’t find it.”

 

“Here. Tap him.”

 

“There.”

 

“No.”

 

“Calm down.”

 

“Don’t worry.”

 

“Impossible!”

“Hush.”

 

“You’re making it worse.”

 

“Go out and calm down.”

 

“Hey, he’ll be fine.”

 

“Moving?”

 

“I don’t know.”

 

“When?”  


“Know.”

 

“Arthur.”

 

“Asleep.”

 

“Hurt.”

  
  


Arthur was numb. What happened? He sat up and rubbed his thumping head.

 

“Ow,” he winced, opening his eyes. It was white all around him, a stark contrast from the colorful Garden District.

 

“Arthur?” Someone was with him. He looked around and his eyes landed on a tired Graham.

 

Bags adorned his eyes that were bloodshot, his cheeks were a light pink and tear tracks drew down his face, he had drool that dried on his face leading from his mouth. Arthur chuckled.

 

“You got a bit of- here.” Arthur pointed to his face, trailing his finger across his face to mimic where the drool was.

 

Graham scoffed and wetted his finger, wiping his face quickly. His cheeks lit up to a more potent red.

 

“I thought you weren’t gonna wake up.” Graham’s face fell.

 

“I-sorry,” Arthur squeezed out of his scratchy throat.

“Water?” Graham reached over to a nearby table, grabbing a glass and walking into the bathroom. Filling it up. “I hope it’s alright, this was mine.”

 

Arthur laughed weakly. “No, it- it,” he cleared his throat. “It’s fine.”

 

“It doesn't have Joy in it, we keep it out of the water here so we can clean wounds with out Joy creeping in.”

 

As Arthur drank, Graham went over everything that he missed for the past few days.

 

“They exploded and it was beautiful!” Fireworks he was talking about.

 

Somehow someone got their hands on fireworks, scared the shit out of the entire town, but people came around and thanked the person because they found the bright lights fascinating.

 

“That’s… Neat,” Arthur dragged on, smiling at Graham. “Where’s Fran and Watts?”

 

“Working. Fran’s strolling around in St. George (I think??) and Watts, poor Watts, is in records (I THINK????).”

 

Arthur chucked and recited what the one bobby said, “”you make one mistake and they throw you into records, it’s hardly fair”, what did Watts do?”

 

“You really remember everything, don’t you?” Arthur nodded enthusiastically.

 

“You need to to keep your lies straight.”

 

“Watts has a bad fear of heights, he found a Downer and was chasing ‘em,”

 

“Uh oh.”

 

“Yeah, he somehow got onto a cliff and looked down, poor guy locked up completely and nearly fell off!” Arthur snorted.

 

“You were talkin’ ‘bout me?” Watts said loudly behind Graham who jumped in response.

 

“Unfair! I call cheating!”

 

Arthur broke out into loud laughter, Watts and Graham joined in.

 

“It’s definitely fair!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got this done surprisingly fast like HuH-


	13. Sick Boi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Graham gets sick because why the hell not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my longest story I've ever made, Google Drive says it's at 21 pages.

Graham threw up for the 3rd time today. Arthur was making him sick- not in the oh-he’s-so-ugly way or somethin’, just in the I’m-super-tired-and-it’s-making-me-sick-but-I-need-to-keep-an-eye-on-you-because-I’m-a-great-father way. Watts patted his back and shushed him, like a great friend. 

 

“You better sleep, I’ll watch him if it make you feel any better.”

 

“No, I need to make sure nothing happens-”

 

“You’re going the hell to sleep this instant, I’m your mother now bow to me.” (So much about parents, maybe it’s because I hate my dad right now but LET'S NOT GET INTO THAT- I don’t wanna worry you guys)

 

Graham laughed, snorting in some of the smell from the toilet. He wretched and hissed, tightening his hands into fists.

 

“You can’t con-” He gagged once again, “-trol me.”

 

Watts sighed and pulled him up, flushing the toilet. Watts lead Graham into the kitchen and through the house, opening the door to Graham's, Rabossan’s, and Watts’s room. (They just share a room, there’s four people living in the house, so to make all of them fit they have the three bobbies together and Fran alone with a guest bedroom because they bring over a lot of other bobbies and doctors) Watts laid Graham down and went to fetch a pail. 

 

Graham's stomach felt like shit. It was non-stop gurgling, the Joy dulled it down, but it still was painful. His throat ached and his arms felt like lead. What kinda illness did he catch??

 

“Graham.” That felt like a jackhammer went off in his brain, rattling his head. He clenched the sides of his head, groaning. “Sorry,” they now whispered. Watts had come back with a pail and a doctor. Fran was a goddamn lifesaver Graham sweared.

 

“It’s alright.” He opened his eyes and shot an accusatory finger at Watts. “Don’t you fucking dare tell Arthur, he’ll be mulling over me until I’m better. Probably a few months after too.”

 

Watts chuckled and set the pail on the floor, letting Fran do his thing.

 

“Seems like you just tired you’re self out and now you’re just suffering the consequences.” Graham laughs turned into light coughs. “Just rest.”

 

Graham would love to be watching Arthur, he feels selfish for sleeping when Arthur’s so anxious. Weeks of work was thrown down the drain, Arthur was back to being distant and quiet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I REALLY NEED IDEAS! SERIOUSLY. I REALLY NEED IDEAS MY DUDES!


	14. The SickNESS

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is sick and it's driving Arthur insane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The amazing @Unkle__Jack on Wattpad is back at it again with those SPICEY ideas-
> 
> Uh yeah, this part has a section of me really indepthly venting. Just to enlighten you guys, when I put parentheses that means me, the author, is talking directly to you, the reader. It's not like, Arthur or someone thinking and adding on to something, that's me speaking and putting notes that I randomly think of that might be amusing or just something that I want to write.

 

Arthur was worried. No that was a huge understatement, he was fucking shitting himself; everyone was sick, like not a common cold, no, like REALLY sick. They were throwing up everywhere and were too weak to do anything. Somehow Graham’s exhaustion sickness turned into an actual contagious sickness, catching everyone but Arthur and making them very ill.

 

“If I could, I would take the illness for you,” Arthur had stated many times to the others, feeling terrible for being the only one who _wasn’t_ ill.

 

The house was full of, “Arthur,” this and, “Arthur,” that! Even Ra-fucking-bossan! They were all bloody sick and it was terrible to listen to the hacking and the gagging all night. So Arthur didn’t sleep. He stayed up, listening if anyone was dying out there. (Keep in mind, he still lives in a legit shed) They couldn’t go outside in fear of collapsing, so they had to walk as if they were 100 years old, using a walker to even get to the shitter. Arthur tried, he really did. He helped all that he could but it felt like he was also ill; the mental strain of what happened only a few nights ago was huge and he still didn’t entirely trust this group of strange people, but he was caring for them, putting his untrusting nature behind him to take care of the people who saved him. _They saved him,_ risked their lives, their _jobs_ and _positions_ to save him and take him back to care for his wounds, even getting sick in the name of helping him. As long as they got better, Arthur didn’t care what happened to him.

 

He stayed up with these thoughts. His side with the cut thumped and a twinge of sadness smacked his face. It was his fault why they were sick. If he wasn’t so… So stupid and trusted them, Graham wouldn’t have been worried, he wouldn’t have stayed up and gotten sick. Arthur winced as Watts’s coughing shook the ground, Arthur’s breath hitched as the shed door, that was oh so _cleverly_ (sarcasm), disguised as a front door. Graham waddled in, leaning heavily on the door frame. Arthur shot up, ignoring the stab of pain from his wounds, and ran over to Graham, taking him over and siting him on his bed.

 

“Sorry Arthur, I just couldn’t- erm… Sleep with all of the noise. It seams moderately quiet out here,” Graham whispered through his dry and aching throat. ((This part is just me talking about my shitty problems, skip if you don’t want to read my rant/venting) I just went through a really bad illness, it came from my dad’s boss (because he’s a fucking douche). My throat was hurting really bad and the only way to make it stop was drinking tons of cold water, the problem is that I’m chronically dehydrated (Google definition: **Dehydration is the term for your body's reaction when you don't drink enough water, resulting in a fluid deficiency. ... Instead, it becomes an ongoing issue where you're forcing your body to function without enough water. Chronic dehydration, when significant, requires prompt medical attention.** Not making this up, my doctor legit said that I’m chronically dehydrated because of... *Ahem* more _embarrassing reasons_ , but also it’s a less hurtful and frankly a much easier way to harm myself) so drinking too much water results in me throwing it back up again, so yeah, lots of throwing up water in the past week)

 

Arthur winced empathetically and lightly rubbed Graham’s back. Arthur isn’t too great at comforting people; as a kid he was great, having practice by comforting Percy and all.

 

He awkwardly patted Graham’s head and said, “uh… There there?”

 

Graham chuckled and coughed, running to the door just in time to throw up.

 

“Ew.”

 

“Yeah, I know.” Graham whipped his mouth and stuck his tongue out, making a “bleh” sound.

 

Arthur laughed and sat down with Graham waddling over and sitting next to him, flopping back and groaning. Arthur followed and flopped back too, his eyes growing heavey.

 

“You were right,” Graham said, breathlessly. “It is beautiful in here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, sorry about the mid-story part vent.


	15. Oh No

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is an epic uh-oh moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M FUCKING BACK HOES! 
> 
> SPECIAL THANKS TO SKYEBO6 FOR BEING A LEGIONED OVER ON AMINO AND GIVING ME THIS IDEA LIKE 9,000 MONTHS AGO I'M SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT AHHHHH-

Soup should help them, right? Arthur snuck out the same way he did before and hiked himself up the rocks with minimal damage to his pale skin. He ended up deciding to go to the Village to obtain some soup ingredients. Sneaking through homes was fickle and a thing he didn’t enjoy much, so he went fast. Extremely fast. He picked up Rowan Berries, Blue Currant, Bread, Carrots, raw meat and a few other things he can use for medical equipment. He could work with this. In no way is he a good cook; he was actually terrible, but god dammit he will try! At least he knows some things?

 

 

After a long ass time of rearranging food and failed attempts, he made an alright looking and tasting meal. Both types of barries were set on the side of the plate and the soup with broth and cooked meet was in a bowel in the middle. He put together four of the same dishes (even for Rabossan) and set them out. One by one he helped each constable and one doctor limp downstairs and over to the table. 

 

 

“Fran,” Arthur asked as Fran hummed. “Why do you think I’m not ill but all of you are?”

 

 

Fran clicked his tounge and reached over to a dresser nearby, pulling off a sheet of paper, he read it off, “I think that Joy reacts with immune system in a negative way, making-” he put his finger up and coughed,”-Wellies and Welletts be more prone to illnesses and death.”

 

 

Arthur nodded and furrowed his brows, “I used to abuse Joy, why is my immune system alright?”

 

 

“That’s part of why you’re here.”

 

 

“What?” Arthur stood up quickly. “I am a test subject!” He pointed accusingly at everyone.

 

 

“Arthur no-” Watts started but was quickly cut off by an angry Arthur.

 

 

“Don’t “Aurthur no” me, Constable! I should have known that I couldn’t trust three bobbies and a Joy doctor of all people!” 

 

 

“Arthur wait!” Graham called before he tried to stand though he fell to the ground.

 

 

“Fuck off! All of you!” 

 

 

  1. Arthur looked behind him one more time and slammed the back door shut, blocking it off with one of the outdoor chairs.



**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for short part; update: I just went through a ton of shit- I went to a hospital for suicidal help a while ago, I just didn't get around to writing more, and now I'm taking medication that is helping a bunch, so yeah, I'm super freaking sorry for the long wait!
> 
> Again, thank you Skyebo6 for the help!


	16. Chapter 16

The air was fresh and thin in the Garden District. The breeze was clean and soft. Arthur pushed his hair out of his face and smiled tightly, chuckling softly.

 

“I hate myself.”

 

.:______________________:.

 

“You let him out?!” Fran hissed at Graham.

 

“He needed air, I didn’t think he would bolt-” None of the constables who decided to join the two had a clue where Hastings went.

 

“You know we need him, right?” Fran rolled his eyes and continued walking.

 

“From the little that he talked to me about, he said he was thrown out of the Parade, he found himself in a bunker leading to the Garden District; maybe he went back there. Again,” Graham suggested, tipping his hat at a small old lady.

 

“And how do we get back there?”

 

.:______________________:.

 

“That was fucked.” Fran looked absolutely frazzled.

 

“Bobby poppers need to take bobbies places quickly.” Graham poked Fran’s chest, “I thought  _ you _ would know that.” They both argued for a while until Watts said something.

 

“Shut up,” he paused, opening his mouth and cupping his ear. “Do you hear that?”

 

“Other than the birds and crickets, no.”

 

“That’s the point, usually there's footsteps, people walking around, talking, rummaging through trash, reflecting on old times,” Watts said, pausing to catch his breath.

 

“And how do you know that?” another bobby questioned.

 

“Truth be told they have some great resources here.” Watts shrugged and rummaged through some bushes. “See here? These are Rose of Gilead, they make healing balm,” he said, slipping them into his pockets and grabbing more on the way.

 

“Do you know this place? Do you know the people?” Fran asked.

 

“Righto, they’re all quite friendly.” Watts turned around and did finger guns at Fran.

 

“Watts!” Everyone looked over. “We need some help ‘ere!” A downer was trapped under a fallen concrete wall.

 

“Coming!” Watts ran over and helped push the concrete off of the poor man.

 

“What in the name of Uncle Jack happened here?”

 

“Joy doctors happened.” The man paused to catch his breath. “Sucked up a bunch of us, just destroyed everything, including our water pumps.”

 

“We’re lucky you decided to come by earlier than usual or else he would have died.”

 

“About that, I’m here because we were taking care of a certain Arthur Hastings. You know if you’ve seen him?” She tapped her chin.

 

“Tall, lanky, dark hair, baggy clothing?” She listed at which Graham nodded at.

 

“You’ve seen him?”

 

“Yeah, he was running, looking frazzled. Then the joy doctors followed.” She looked down and stood up. “I don’t know if he escaped but I can show you where I last saw him.”

 

The group walked in silence for a while until Fran spoke, “this place is… Beautiful.”

 

“Indeed.” She chuckled lightly. Like Arthur said, the air did feel lighter here.

 

“Here.” She stopped and crouched, picking up a shirt. “He was wearing this.” Everyone looked over, the large, army green shirt that Arthur seemed to love was discarded. He wouldn’t do such a thing.

 

.:______________________:.

 

Spit flew out of the corners of his mouth as all of his muscles tightened.

 

“Pathetic, you all are.” The other’s around Arthur were shaking in fear, Arthur was too, he didn’t want to end up like that other guy. Electrocuted.

 

They were all tossed into a room, it was dark beside for the window that shined a bit of sun through just to taunt them. He gasped as pain split up his side, probably opened a cut again. He coughed and manned up, standing and peering out of the crack in the window covering. Looks like that Jubilator-esk machine didn’t take them too far. It hurt being squished so close to other people, the air was knocked out of everyone and so was rational sense.


	17. Puzzle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Impulsive gang figure shit out.

Verloc. It was all Verloc’s doing. He was doing some sort of batshit crazy things to the others, it was so crazy that those people never came back. Everyone was screaming, pounding on their prison windows for escape. Arthur was sitting on his bed, cross-legged and crying after his recent round of shots. They tried to give him Joy-  _ fucking JOY _ ! It didn’t work though, he thinks that it was coconut from the little taste he got before he spit it out. He hates Verloc, not only for electrocuting him when he was trying to get cod liver oil for Sally and whatever the hell she was doing, but for also taking him away from Graham, Watts, and Fran. Sure, their last conversation wasn’t the best, but he forgave them, of course he did. Arthur Hastings: always the one to forgive quickly.

 

.:______________:.

 

Done. They were done with this shit.

 

“It’s bull!” Graham was yelling at the others, stressed out of his mind to the point that Joy wouldn’t even help.

 

“Graham-” Fran started but was quickly cut off by Graham.

 

“No! Arthur’s out there  **alone** and scared and we’re doing jack shit ‘bout it!”

 

“We don’t even know where the hell he is!” 

 

“Ask around in the Garden! Get Watts to talk because he seems to know those people  _ so well _ !”

 

Watts had been quiet up to this point. “Be quiet all of you! Sure, Graham,  _ we  _ can go around and ask, though you  _ have to come with _ ! Fran, you need to collect all of the medical supplies you have because people will definitely be hurt.”

 

“But-” Rabossan started.

 

“Hush, you’re coming along too. We’re getting the help of the others too.”


	18. Where's Hell When You Need it?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur gets hurt more and they boys get help with their adventure.

Arthur screamed and yelled, pulling on the bindings like a madman. Maybe he was? It hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt so much. 

 

“Fuck, fuck, FUCKING STOP-” he was cut off by a sock being tied behind his head and through his mouth.

 

They kept on cutting away at his thighs and his forehead.

 

‘ _ Graham! Watts! Fran! Fucking help me! I’m sorry for running away! I’m so goddamn stupid! _ ’

 

Arthur passed out from pain.

 

.:______________:.

 

The bobbies joined; scratch that the whole fucking  _ constabulary came _ . Some wanted an adventure, some wanted a fight, and some wanted to lend a helping hand to the group. 

 

“A Garden District lass told us about Jubilators picking up Downers and running away with them,” Fran started.

 

“We did some more investigating yesterday and learned that it was Verloc’s constables who were responsible for this,” Watts hissed and spat out Verloc’s name.

 

“This gives us a damn good reason to think that this is Anton Verloc’s doing,” Graham finished.

 

Everyone nodded and took in the information.

 

“We need to prepare for a good ass fight, for Arthur, for friends,” Rabossan smiled at the others who were shocked, he said he wouldn’t help.

 

Graham returned to the others, “does everyone understand the plan?” 

 

A yell of, “yes, sir,” confirmed their lift off for this operation.

 

.:______________:.

 

Arthur’s head was thumping and his thighs felt tight. He felt down his legs,  _ they felt tight because they were tightly bandaged _ . 

 

` _ Oh yeah, _ ’ he thought, ‘ _ they sliced and diced me like ham. _ ’ 

 

He tried to bend this legs and hissed in pain, ‘ _ damn that hurts bad _ .’ 

 

Arthur’s vocal cords felt shot from screaming so much and his eyes felt raw from crying. 

 

‘ _ When is Hell going to swallow me whole? _ ’


	19. Hah

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The End.

“Can Mr. Verloc let us in?”

 

“This building is currently under quarantine, please come back later, Constable.”

 

“We’re here for a check up.”

 

“Alright? I was never told about one,” everyone held their breaths, “ah, there, I lied, there was one scegualed tomorrow.”

 

“It was moved up to today,” Graham quickly said.

 

The bobby paused, though clicked his tongue and continued, “I’ll let you on in then.”

 

Step one: get in; check.

 

Step two: find where Arthur is

 

Fran brought with a notepad and a pencil to seem more professional. They saw real actual problems like gas leaks and motaline spills, though they were only looking for their friend, their test subject sure, but Arthur was so much more than just a test subject, he was a teacher.

 

“I heard there was a shipment of Downers here?” The bobby following them nodded, smiling wider.

 

“Yes, there was.”

 

“Can we check to see if their… Up to par?”

 

The bobby nodded again and chuckled, bringing them to a large, metal door. 

 

‘ _ Key pad, _ ’ Watts noted, narrowing his eyes and getting a glance at all of the numbers, just missing the last one as the bobby turned around right as he put it in.

 

Watts leaned over to Fran and took the pencil, writing, “key code: 2175[UNKNOWN]” the door opened and the bobby got knocked out by a flying truncheon.

 

“Be careful where your whipping that around, Constable Constable!”

 

“I got him didn’t I?” Constable Constable shrugged and retrieved his truncheon. 

 

“You did but holy shit,” Graham hissed.

 

The large group quietly stepped over the body as others dragged the body away.

 

Step two: find where Arthur is; check.

 

Step three: ???

 

They cracked open the windows in all of the cells, letting the people out.

 

“Holy shit- Fran, Graham, Watts, get over here,” Rabossan called.

 

“Arthur!”

 

Everyone helped smash open the thick glass as Graham, Watts, and Fran sprinted inside, checking Arthur’s skin.

 

“Guys…?”

 

Arthur was alive and kicking.

 

“You live to remember another day,” Graham chuckled, helping Arthur up.

 

“Ow, shit.”

 

“What’s wrong,” Fran asked.

 

“They cut up my legs, putting pressure on it really stings.” Arthur clenched his teeth as his knees bucked, pulling his skin tight making him yell a string of swears.

 

He bit onto his knuckles as Graham (using his inhuman strength) held him bridle style.

 

“Comfy?”

 

Arthur chuckled, “hah, as comfortable as I will be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this wraps up Impulsive. I'm seriously crying right now, the support on this has been insane. Four- nearly five months I've been writing this story for. Man, through all of that time you guys stuck by me. 
> 
> Thank you.
> 
> -Egg


End file.
